Battaglia served as president of the 15,000-member Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Workers union. He faces between 57 and 71 months in prison when sentenced on May 16.

A federal investigation into the local's activities resulted in charges against Battaglia, other union officials and Genovese Crime Family bigshot Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello. An independent investigation of the union local decided that "organized crime has infiltrated and controlled it."

Ianniello acknowledged in 2006 that he had arranged illegal payoffs for the union leadership. He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. Ann Chiarovano, who served as the local's pension fund director, pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about mob influence in the union local. She was sentenced last January to five months in prison. Julius "Spike" Bernstein, secretary-treasurer of Local 1181, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and cooperated with the federal investigation.

Alleged Montreal mobsters face up to 100 additional charges, as a result of paperwork filed in a Canadian court last week, reported the CBC News of Canada.

More than 100 people were arrested in the Montreal area in November 2006, including several alleged leaders of the local Rizzuto Crime Family. "What we did in November 2006 is lay a general account [of charges]," prosecutor Yvan Poulin explained on Thursday. "Today, we focused on specific events that occurred during the investigation."

The additional counts are related to extortion, bookmaking and possession of the proceeds of crime. A dozen additional charges were lodged against alleged crime family bigshot Nick Rizzuto (left), 83. He is the father of crime boss Vito Rizzuto, now jailed in the U.S. after admitting a role in the murders of three Bonanno Crime Family capos in 1981.

The defendants, arrested in 2006, included the alleged leaders of 13 Sicilian Mafia clans. The longest prison sentences - 20 years apiece - were given to Antonio Rotolo, boss of the Pagliarelli organization, and Franco Bonura, boss of the Uditore organization.

Both organizations are based in the outskirts of Palermo. Uditore is a community to the northwest of the center of Palermo City. Pagliarelli lies to the southwest of the city center. The Uditore clan was known to be close to Corleone-based Sicilian boss of bosses Bernardo Provenzano, who was captured by Italian authorities in 2006 after four decades as a fugitive.

According to a report from Independent Online in South Africa, the leaders of the Sicilian crime families were caught through a combination of Provenzano's records and electronic surveillance at a Palermo garage where the bosses regularly met.

Sicily's governor, Salvatore Cuffaro (right), was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for aiding Mafia leaders by supplying information about ongoing investigations, according to a report by Reuters.

Cuffaro, member of the right wing Catholic political party, pledged to remain on the job during the appeal process, which could take years. He has served as governor for seven years, winning reelection to the post two years ago. His trial has gone on through the past three years. If the conviction is upheld, Cuffaro will be barred from holding public office.

A co-defendant, Michele Aiello, was sentenced to 14 years for associating with members of organized crime, leaking classified information and illegally accessing law enforcement computers, according to a story by the BBC.